CACTUS COW DIGITAL BLOG

So you've decided to start an online store. Congratulations! As your virtual storefront starts taking shape, one of the first decisions you'll face is whether to use a hosted or self-hosted e-commerce platform.

U.S. digital ad spend will total$83 billion by the end of 2017—15.9 percent more than last year — and, right now, digital media placement specialists are using platforms like Google, Bing and Facebook to drive traffic to their clients' websites. Digital ad placement is often a complicated science. That's why it's a good idea to create a plan of action — a sequence of specific steps that provide you with a return on your ad spend. Here's a step-by-step guide to building a digital media placement plan that really works.

More people are consuming digital content, so companies are investing in marketing methods like search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising and email automation. As a result,digital media spending will total $118 billion by 2021. If you want to generate leads and increase the visibility of your brand, you are faced with two options: keeping your marketing in-house or enlisting the services of a marketing agency. The latter provides you with a decent return on your investment. Here are some tips on how to choose the right growth marketing agency — and how you can benefit from one.

Pinterest is a social network like Twitter or Instagram. However, unlike other common social media platforms, Pinterest users are more likely driven to an action such as making a purchase. This is great news for ecommerce marketers, because75 percent of Pinterest’s contentcomes from businesses like yours!

You have plenty of spreadsheets on hand for business operations, from inventory management to accounting. As your small business grows, you may be tempted to continue adding to your spreadsheet collection, but you're often better off when you turn them into an app. With today's modern mobile strategies, you can implement nearly any feature thinkable into a mobile app. Find out why your business would benefit from an app!

You have many opportunities to sell solar energy in Arizona, as themarket has grown five percentin the first quarter of 2017. Property owners in the state want to take advantage of the renewable power resources available to them, but they may need some convincing to go from an interested party to your next customer. Find out some effective methods of marketing solar energy in Arizona.

E-commerce is more than just processing orders and shipping products. Get your website on the first page of Google, and you could generate a steady stream of traffic to your online store. Improving search engine optimization (SEO) is a lot easier than you think. Here are four recent e-commerce SEO trends that will drive tons of customers to your product pages.

Mobile app revenues will total$188.9 billion by 2020, according to research. Games, maps, social networks — millions of Americans download apps to their smartphones every year. If you own a small business, developing a mobile app provides you with a wealth of benefits. Mobile app benefits outweigh the cost in sizeable ways. Here are some of the advantages of using a customized app to increase sales and generate new customers.

The internet is a useful tool when it comes to promoting products and services. This is why the number of companies investing in digital advertising has increased substantially over the last five years, and is set to increase even more.

Facebook — one of the world's biggest websites with1.28 billion daily active users— is no longer just a social network but a powerful e-commerce platform, too. Forty-two percent of marketers say Facebook is critical or important to their business, and77 percent of B2C companiesgenerated customers from the site. As a result, businesses use this social network to boost conversions, promote new products and accelerate sales growth. Here are three of the best Facebook e-commerce campaigns ever.